Spaniards Fight Banks Over Home Evictions

There is a mini-war being fought on Spanish doorsteps, between members of the public who can no longer afford to pay their mortgages and the banks who are threatening to evict them.

Last year there were 58,000 evictions in Spain - a 22% rise. It means on average there are 159 evictions every day, and four in every five involves families with children.

But protest groups have begun show up at evictees' front doors to try to stop the bailiffs gaining access to properties.

With certain banks taking bailouts from the state, the campaign groups say institutions who are looking for support from the taxpayer shouldn't be throwing customers out on to the streets.

Sky News went to meet Maclovia Luzmila and her 12-year-old daughter Vivian.

The next day they were due to be evicted from their home after failing to make mortgage repayments, and Maclovia feared Vivian may be taken into social care.

"I'm not going to let her be taken somewhere else," she said. "We don't want to be separated. I only live for her."

Later when we met Maclovia at her work caring for the elderly, she added: "I just want to pay what I can afford.

"But with this job I don't earn the money to cover the repayments on my 200,000 euro mortgage. So we are going to resist. They will have to pull me out."

In another suburb of Madrid, Hilda Marisol lives in a flat with five children.

She (SNP: ^SHEY - news) was also due to be evicted this week but her bank, Bankia, has given her until the end of school term to leave.

Her sparse flat has no electricity, but she doesn't want to leave.

"Bankia already owns it," she said. "But I still owe them 199,000 euros on the mortgage, and even if I paid it I still would not own the property."

Bankia is currently asking for a 23.4bn euro state bailout due to debts caused by the property crash.

Which is why some anti-eviction groups feel they should be more sympathetic to people in debt.

In response to the growing number of evictions, one group has occupied a Bankia-owned property in central Madrid, offering rooms for evicted families.

Sky News attended a local support meeting for those having problems paying their mortgage, where 300 people turned up - many of them looking for legal advice.

At the meeting, Maclovia appealed to the group to help her resist the bailiffs the following morning. In answer to her plea, around 30 people arrived on her doorstep.

Among them was campaigner Diego Sanz. "These mortgages were sold to people at inflated prices to poor people, who the banks should have known would not be able to pay back the money," he told Sky News.

"The banks are guilty of irresponsible lending. So we are here to support the family and stop this eviction going ahead."

In the meantime Maclovia was called to meet her bank Caixa Catalunya, another bank already bailed-out by taxpayers.

She returned with news that the banks had written off 90% of her debt and were allowing her to stay.

Bankia and Caixa Catalunya were unavailable for comment, but an hour later protesters were defending another doorstep from another bank-led eviction.

The banks now have a dilemma. If they evict people from their homes, they'll find it difficult to find replacement tenants.

They well know how much empty property there is in Spain - they own much of it.

On the other hand if they negotiate with the customer and cut their rates, there's a danger it could encourage others to default on payments.